6 month internship

The NW Herald is an intensely community-focused publication. The ideal candidate will have passion, initiative, the ability to be a visual storyteller, have an understanding of the demands of community journalism. The photo staff in Crystal Lake is made up of 3 full-time shooters a picture editor and an imaging tech who all shoot.

This is a paid internship, $440/wk, mileage is reimbursed at $.37/mile. Canon digital gear is provided, intern must have reliable transportation and current insurance. This internship will run from mid-July through the end of the year. Applicants must also pass a drug test and background check. Portfolios with multimedia presentations (video or audio slideshows) as well as a diverse collection of still images will have the upper hand. Previous internship experience is preferred.

I interned at the NW Herald a couple years ago and there were a great group of shooters there. All of that photo staff is gone, further along their own paths, though the editor remains, and I know at least one of the shooters there now. As with any newspaper, you’ll cover everything from spot news to high school sports to business to slice-of-life features to self-generated stories if you’ve got the drive. The rest of the newsroom staff (writers, editors, business side of the news company) was also great to work with and very friendly. One thing, though, is that Crystal Lake is kind of a drag; small town very far out from Chicago. To give you an idea, the next town further out is Woodstock, which is where the movie Groundhog Day was filmed. This is not to say that the area doesn’t have good stories; you’ll just have to push harder to get past the veneer of suburban bedroom communities. Carpentersville, about 10 minutes drive from the NW Herald offices, for instance, was the subject of a recent NYTimes Magazine feature about the (illegal) immigration debate; the city had a law proposed to make English the official language of the city and there were decent-sized protests. The area’s right on the cusp of middle America’s quandary with immigration. If nothing else, it makes for some amazing Mexican food. I’m sure the area’s also getting hit hard with foreclosures; tons of speculative subdivisions all over the place in that area of Illinois.